Terrible ending

The friends group was scheduled to move to their next phase last Saturday. All were doing well, eating on their own and gave up bottles days before this...how everything went wrong so fast I have no idea. Friday everyone was going well, they were active, eating and doing normal kitten things, I had no reason to suspect that tragedy would strike later on that night. At 5pm my daughter and I fed them and as normal they all ate well and settled down for a nap. About 6:30 it was time to bathe them so that they would be nice and clean and full of good smells for the next morning for their journey to Kitchener. I got the towels, water, soap all ready and went to get the first one for their bath. I went to their area and Ross and Joey were in a heap sleeping. Phoebe was all alone by the litter box, I picked her up and knew right away that something was wrong. She was very sick. Not sure what was happening, I gave her some sugar water thinking that her blood sugars were low. Her jaw was clamped shut so tightly that if I were to try to open it I felt like I would break her jaw. I put her on the kitchen floor so I could see what she was able to do, and she couldn't use her back leg at all. I put her on a the heating pad that I always put kittens on after a bathe and called Mary. Went over to Mary's to see what she thought. We both knew that Phoebe was dying, we both knew that it was so close that the vet wouldn't be able to save her. I brought her home, kept her warm and watched and did a whole lot of praying for this little girl. I held, talked, sang and rocked her. I offered bottles b/c formula is a comfort food, but with a jaw so tight I was able to get very little into her. I put her to bed and got up a few times to check on her. The last time I got up with her was about 2:30am, she was still alive. I offered more formula and tucked her back into bed. I got up for the day just after 5am to find that Phoebe didn't make it. Jilly and I buried her in the backyard with a parrot of mine that died last year. Ross and Joey were set to go to their foster home in KW. I got them ready, they played on the kitchen floor for a while. When Mary showed up, I kissed them, reminded them to be good little boys and loaded Ross into the carrier. Took a good look at Joey just before I put him in and he didn't look well, something was clearly wrong with this little man. I decided to hang on to him for a bit longer and take him to the vet here in town. I sent Ross with Mary. The vet didn't see a whole lot wrong with him, suggested that b/c of his prolapsed eye lids he either had parasites or a neruo issue. He also gave fluid under the skin. I brought him home and found later on that afternoon that was constipated so I ran his bum under the kitchen tap to help him pass what was blocking him up. It finally passed and he perked up about 5:30. Sunday and Monday he seemed to be doing better. Plans were made for him to join his brother on Wednesday. Tuesday things didn't look so well, he was walking really oddly, his back legs were sliding out from under him. I called TCR and suggested that he visit the vet in KW before he was dropped at his new home the next day, they agreed. Loaded him up on Wednesday and off we went. We had to do some other things before our appt so we took food, water, wipes and extra blankets etc etc along. We arrived at about 12:30 and fed him, he ate like a champ and had a huge poop in the box and seemed ok. The vet didn't know what to say really so offered to keep him there for a couple of days to evaluate him. I called Thursday morning and he was doing well, he ate like a little piggy they said and were going to start him on some antibiotics and release him the next day. I was very excited he was going to be ok, I mean after all the vet wouldn't release him if they thought he had big issues. This was good news. Friday morning I got an e-mail about Joey. Sometime that morning he was really having a hard time breathing, the vet didn't think he recover so they euthanized him. I was devastated. this was the same little kitten that just the day before was doing so well and was going to be released this very morning. I have lost kittens before and while they all are sad and heartbreaking, the loss of Joey was the hardest loss I have had so far. I knew him, I loved him. He was almost 7 weeks old and had been with me a month. I have never had a loss after they had been here that long and not after they were weaned. I was a sobbing mess. I have been racking my brain asking myself what I could have done differently, what did I do wrong, what did I miss? He was also the first male I have lost. I know realistically I have done nothing wrong, I know I did the right things. I feel horrible about him dying at the vets office, even though I'm sure someone was holding him or comforting him it was still in such a cold place. He died without me there. I hope as he was leaving the earth to go to the bridge that he knew how much he was loved. When Joey got sick last weekend, I had said that if he died I was done with rescue. However I have an reason to keep going on....Mouse is my reason, if you remember the story of the littlest sickest kitten I did last summer you will remember how his life hung by a thread and many days his life was minute to minute, hour to hour (if you have't read Mouse's story you can find it by reading earlier postings). But eventually Mouse went from Mouse to Moose. it took a long time and a lot of vet visits and tons of love and time, but he lived and has been adopted and is doing very well. When I think that I don't make a difference all I have to do is remember my wee mouse man and know that I HAVE made it matter, I did the right things. I am a good rescue person and I do,and will continue to do a good job. Mouse isn't the only one, Hope, Jimmy, were also quite sick but they survived with the same love and care that everyone else got. I didn't do anything for them that I didn't do for Joey. Sometimes no matter what we do, kittens die. Sometimes we know why, but sometimes we don't. No matter how or why, sometimes they just die. I'm not expecting a loss to get easier and I will never be ok with it happening but sometimes no matter how much you do, how much you love them, they just die. So I will continue doing rescue, I will continue making a difference. Ross is doing very well in his foster home and we stopped by to see him last week. He has a big belly, is so snuggly and so happy and full of life. It was good to see him to see and know that he is ok, and that whatever killed his brother and sister doesn't seem to affect him in anyway. They will keep a close eye on him and watch for anything out of the ordinary, but he is doing very well.

winding down

My time with these 3 is running short. They are down to 1 bottle a day and are eating so well. As of yesterday they are fully litter trained and ready to learn how to be big cats. They don't smell near as bad as they did, they smell pretty normal now. I was watching them play today, I love to watch them go from helpless beings who really can't do much at all to running, jumping playing balls of energy.

I made the call yesterday that they will probably be ready to go to their next home, Monday or so a home is being searched for them. At the next phase they will get to learn all the things I can't teach them, things that they can only learn from another cat. they will need to learn kitten manners and what is acceptable and what isn't, when they are ready to graduate from there they are up for adoption, kittens generally get adopted pretty quickly due the fact that they are babies and adjust better than some adult cats who are pretty set in their ways.

This also means that my blogging for this group will come to an end, at this stage there isn't much more for me to write a they have grown up successfully and milestones all met.

I do however leave you with these 2 videos of them playing. Enjoy and next time you see me I will have a new batch of babies to raise and grow.

2 brothers beat up on little sister who does hold her own quite well



Ross has discovered that toys really can be and are lots of fun to play with, so is chasing words on a newspaper lol.

settling down

Weights are as follows

Phoebe : 324G a gain of 12G
Joey : 403G a gain 0f 10G
Ross : 430G a gain of 8G

As you can see their gains are not huge but don't panic, during a wean it is normal for their gain to slow at first and then pick up and take off.

I was happily surprised to wake up this morning to NO messes anywhere, They used their litter box all night long. They still smell bad though and I have yet to figure out why. I am guessing they will have another bath today or at the bare minimum a wipe down. I am going to get some pics tonight after my daughter comes home from school to help me handle the 3 feisty and very busy kittens.

I moved them into a bigger space last night, I had put them in there the day before for the afternoon but they were sleeping so peacefully last night and I knew a move would only wake them up and give them reason to scream so I followed the age old advice "NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY".

Will be back tonight with pics. Hopefully lots of them

so tired

I didn't update yesterday due to having a super busy house hold and I was up with my daughter the night before so I was exhausted.

I started them on solids as I had planned and so far things are messy but going as they should. They walk through the food, track it all over and then lick whats left off their paws. Weaning is a messy job and much more time consuming then bottle feeding as you need to make sure they are all getting some and learning. Ross so far is the weaning champ, he has taken to the kitten food like a champ. Joey much prefers to play in it, and Phoebe, well she isn't to interested at this point. They got 1 try yesterday, today another will be added etc etc. Until they are weaned onto food 100%. I typically do not take away their night time bottles until they choose to give them up, if they are slow on giving up I give them a boost by offering them a bottle of water instead of formula providing their gain is good and they have eaten well during the day.

Weights are doing well with Ross at 382G Joey at 393G and Phoebe at 312G. Phoebe is catching up slowly, but she is getting there. Now that solids have started they should start packing on within the next few days.

9:14pm

We have successfully completed 2 full solid feeds today, Ross is loving it and is now starting to refuse his bottle, I need him to hang tight for another few days so I can make sure that he is eating enough solids to grow. Joey has also fought his bottle all day long, he isn't to great on the solids so if he wants to be done and a "big boy" he needs to start eating more cat food. Phoebe, eats some but she still prefers her bottle over anything.

These are the 3 stinkiest kitties I have ever smelled, when I take the kid of the baby bucket all you can smell is them, it's in their fur. I bathed them again today b/c I just couldn't stand the smell, now all I have are perfumed stinky kittens, no idea why they smell so bad, but they do stink terrible.

All 3 have also been more successful today using the litter box, which is great news but they are still going wherever they are, and then they have no qualms about laying in it, this is unusual cat behaviour so it confuses me as cats as a rule DO Not sleep where they go the bathroom. I suspect it might have somethign to do with their mom and maybe not seeing her use the box enough to get an idea, or maybe they were born outside and mom just went wherever and they learned that, Who knows. I am going to get serious with them tomorrow on it as it is not acceptable to have a cat that will not use the box adoption wise.

Anyway thats all, I am off to bed.

clean kittens

if by chance you heard some kitten screaming from far away, it might be that you heard these 3 as I bathed them today and they were so unimpressed with me, but they smell so much better. They were not thrilled with the blow dryer so I had to let them air dry, it was a much better option than traumatized babies that would forever be terrified of a blow dryer, or vacum or anything else with that sort of noise.

none of the friends seemed to be huge suckers but when I got up this morning all 3 were lined up against the bunny, as I pulled each away for their morning weigh and feed you can see where they had each grabbed on to a tuff of stuffed animal fur and sucked away, there were 3 very tint but prominent circles with that tuft. Whatever works, would rather that than they start sucking on each other, which if you remember last years litters was a real problem for some of my females to the males.

Since they are only eating about every 6 hrs today but much more at one time, I will start solids tomorrow as planned, this is where it gets messy and gross, it never fails, kittens walk thru, and feed everything else but their faces the first few times they try it. You might remember Sabrina from last year, man that kitten needed a bath after EVERY FEED, she was so messy and gross, I hope that these guys won't be as bad.

their weights are good and here they are :

ROSS - went from 333g to 368g an increase of 35G

Joey - went from 330G to 353G a jump of 20G

Phoebe - 270G to 283G a small gain of 13G

I expect that by Wednesday Ross will be at that magical 1lb, Joey by Thursday or friday and Phoebe not until next weekend unless she really takes off on the solids.

More from me tomorrow night :)